Chapter 1 — The Room Where Time Grew Quiet
The palliative-care room breathed in soft beeps and dim lamplight. Mr. Alden Pierce, eighty-two, lay propped against pillows, face thinned by months of treatment and years of love. The oncologist had been honest: metastases too advanced, options exhausted. What frightened Alden wasn’t the leaving. It was the letting go—of one small, gray-muzzled reason to stay.
Each afternoon he turned his head toward the window, watching a slice of sky.
“Ritchie…” he whispered, barely air. “Where are you, old friend?”
Chapter 2 — A Last Request
When Nurse Elena came to change the line, his hand—paper-light but certain—closed over hers.
“Please. Let me see Ritchie. He’s waiting for me at home. I can’t go without saying goodbye.”
